Sickness, suffering and hope

My son Liam has been very ill again this weekend. It gets quite scary. The fear comes both from the present and the past.

Of course the fact that he was born so premature and has been in hospital so many times, and has come close to dying, leaves a kind of fear in a parent's heart that is difficult to explain. This evening when I preached at my friend Kevin Needham's Church (Bergvliet in Cape Town) he prayed the most beautiful prayer of intercession - in it he mentioned something to the effect of 'God, offer comfort and hope to those who are sick, and courage and hope to those who know that their ilness will lead to their death'. I gave thanks that Liam is beyond that point! He is strong and healthy enough to not have to be rushed to the hospital every time he catches a cold, or gets an infection. It has been about 9 months since he has needed that kind of intervention - so I gave thanks that the 'fear' that I feel when he gets sick is nothing more than an irrational fear based on memory and not reality.

Then there is the fear of the present. We have built up quite a stock of useful medical equipment (stuff to help him breath, medicines of all kinds, and some equipment that helps us to monitor and diagnose his condition). This stuff is useful since it helps us to discover the truth of his condition fairly quickly, but, it can also be scary. Liam has been bordering on an infection for the last week or so (thankfully he was healthy while I was in Hong Kong and while Megie was in Korea). So yesterday when he suddenly got sick we were prepared. He woke from an afternoon nap and sad that he was very cold. When we checked his temperature he was sitting at 41.8 degrees C... such a high temperature always comes with some convulsions and that 'the shakes'. It breaks my heart to see him so sick - many parents will know the suffering of holding a very sick child. It can be quite overwhelming. But we quickly treated the fever and then got the family together to pray with him. He likes it when we pray! Tonight when I was out at Church he was telling Megie and Courts that daddy is praying to Jesus. Good lad!

Today Liam is doing better. His fever is up and down, but the doctor has told us how to treat him and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. He normally bounces back quite quickly (within a few days). I am also so thankful that Megan has relative flexibility in her work schedule so that she can take care of him when he is so sick.

I would apprecaite your prayers - both prayers for his recovery, and prayers of thanks for his growth and general health!

I remember how small he was, and when I see him now I cannot help but give thanks for the miracle!

Very special indeed! We have the blessing of experience to informs our hope!